


Zap

by puranormal



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, Bisexual Male Character, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Pining, Short One Shot, Trans Octane, Wattane, natalie is an anxious mom friend, none of those really come up at all but i just wanted to make it Very Clear, very very minor injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23090989
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puranormal/pseuds/puranormal
Summary: Natalie invites Octavio to practice for the games with her— or, well, more accurately, Octavio running and jumping around for a few hours while Natalie watches and tries to keep up with him.There’s a lot on her mind, she realizes.
Relationships: Octane | Octavio Silva/Wattson | Natalie Paquette
Comments: 3
Kudos: 42





	Zap

**Author's Note:**

> this was inspired by that one animated short with wattson and octane, but not exactly based on it/canon/whatever.
> 
> just something short and sweet that i wrote for my boyfriend :^)
> 
> idk why octavio is wearing a mask and goggles if they’re only practicing lmao. he’s literally just vibing. (and insecure but that’s a headcanon/potential fic for another day.)

“You have a crush on him,” Renee had told her the other day when Natalie had explained her plans, the corner of Renee’s lips curling into a smirk— gently teasing, egging her on. 

The interaction played through Natalie’s mind as she watched Octavio blur across the practice field, pouncing onto his jump pad and flying through the air with loud, lighthearted cackling of excitement. The way he jumped and soared was somehow both reckless and, in a strange way, as beautifully smooth as watching birds fly. They were in their natural element up in the sky, they were existing as freely as they were born to be, doing what they were created to do— that was what Octavio reminded her of, in a strange way. A bird in its element, freedom in its purest form.

And then he horribly botched his attempt at landing into a slide, tumbling and crashing the rest of the way down the hill before he crumbled in a sprawled-out heap at the bottom. 

She gasped, eyes widening.

Her mind didn’t quite connect with her limbs at first, as if she were watching a train wreck— too shocking to peel her gaze away and force herself to move. Something clicked suddenly, violently, _OCTAVIO!_ , and she bolted as fast as her legs could carry her, hopping on that same jump-pad Octavio just threw down; she normally loved the feeling of flying through the air, carried by nothing but the wind and gravity, but this time, it only made her stomach drop with dread. She wanted to get to Octavio as quickly as possible, her mind locked onto one horrible, gut-wrenching scenario: _What if he’s hurt?_

Natalie held her breath, tensed up, landed as carefully as possible with a _thud._ She slid the rest of the way down the hill, her stomach churning with the anticipation of something too horrible to even bring herself to think about..but then letting out a sigh of relief as she saw Octavio standing up and hunched over slightly, the glow of his unbridled, lung-killing laughter highlighting him like a halo.

Octavio’s gaze met Natalie, and as he turned to look at her, she noticed the right lens of his goggles..or, well, the  _lack_ of a right lens.

“Octavio, be more careful!” She called out to him, her voice just slightly higher than usual with a near-unnoticeable quiver of worry. Her tone was gentle, though, and didn’t carry any burning edge of scold with her words.

He just cackled and shook his head at her, and as his laughter began to softly die down, she could see a solitary brown eye watching her from behind the shattered goggles. It shone like the sun and crinkled from the tug of a grin hidden underneath his bandana.

“What do ya mean? That was _awesome!”_

He giggled, but maybe a part of him saw the worry plastered all over his teammate’s face, with her eyes wide like that and all of the color drained from her face.

“You look like you’ve seen a ghost. I’m okay, amigo, look! All in one piece.”

He paused, and Natalie could practically see the gears in his brain turning as he slowly tilted his head to look down at the ground. Octavio seemed to tug the corners of her lips up into a wide, relieved smile like a puppeteer, and he didn’t even seem to notice his effect on her while he moved his gaze towards his prosthetic limbs. 

“Ah— two pieces. Or, uh, I guess three.” He laughed softly before pointing his index finger at his temple. “I’m all good up here, though. Really. No problemo.”

Natalie chuckled along with him, her anxiety (mostly) melting away, but some worries lingered in the back of her mind and seeped into her eyes.

There was a different sort of nervousness that began to worm its way in, though— the jittery kind that sent sparks and butterflies flying through her gut, and it all had to do with the vibrant gaze of that lovely brown eye.

“You must not be, if you can’t remember all of your pieces,” She teased, though some seriousness still lingered below the surface. “Maybe you should go to the doctor, just to make sure.”

“Psssh, a _doctor?”_ He laughed again, “My head doesn’t even hurt, Natalie. You don’t gotta worry about me! It’s gonna take a _loooot_ more to kill me than that.”

Natalie knew she was just overreacting, but..it scared her, seeing him land like that. She was just glad he was okay, standing there as vivacious and daring as ever. And fidgety.

As she slowly stood up off of the ground, brushing the dirt off of her pants, she realized just how glad she was.

_ ”You have a crush on him.” _

She wondered if her feelings were obvious; they had to be, in the way that she looked at him and how he could so easily make her smile and laugh, even on the days she wasn’t feeling her best. He definitely noticed, there was no way he couldn’t have.

Of course, that was assuming he even cared. He probably hardly even knew she existed. Between his massive audience of fans, his gaming live-streams, and his daredevil hobbies, he probably never even thought of her outside of the games.

She felt a little silly for it all; she didn’t even know what he looked like..with the exception of one brown eye that seemed very intently focused on her, a realization that yanked her out of her thoughts and ignited a burning shade of red that spread across her cheeks like wildfire.

“You okay there? You seem a lil’ spaced, amigo.”

She smiled sheepishly up at him. “Yes, I’m okay,” She said, and added another little harmlessly sarcastic jab— “I’m surprised you have stood here for this long.”

He let out another melodic, light laugh, before his voice lilted and melted into the sound perfectly: “Well, I like you.”

His voice seemed softer, almost gentle. It made her heart race and flutter with happy electric jolts and her small, shy smile widen to a bright grin.

“Aww, I like you, too!” She chirped, the excitement in her tone infectious.

There was a short pause between them; it must have only been a few seconds or so, but it felt like hours as they stood there, the air between them crackling and jittering with intense sparks, the kind that Natalie was more unfamiliar with. She could see the smile in his eye again, one that she mirrored as the energy crescendoed and tingled like static, her mind racing with thoughts of Octavio and his adorable laugh, and with a sudden zap of courage—

Natalie leaned closer, hooked her index finger around that bandana, and gently tugged it down with no protest from Octavio. He didn’t say anything, didn’t really have the chance to, she just immediately saw those cute lips of his and pressed her own against them, her eyes fluttering closed.

She hadn’t had much experience with romance; there was a date here and there, yes, and quite a few different crushes, but nothing like this, nothing that sparked violently and _vibrantly_ like her feelings for Octavio Silva.

Natalie had been dreaming of this for awhile, ever since they first worked together and she realized just how infectious his energy and laughter was. She spent hours of her free days toying away with electricity and experimenting, only to lay down in bed at night and be flooded with thoughts of Octavio, Octavio, Octavio.

She pulled away quickly, though, mainly out of fear of crossing a line or making him uncomfortable, her eyes widening as the realization of what she just did hit her like a train; he surprised her when he almost immediately leaned back in and pressed his lips to hers, melting like honey into each other, sickly sweet.

The way he kissed was eager and lightning-fast, just as she expected and just as she liked. She wouldn’t want him any other way.

When he pulled away, it was only by a thread. Their lips still lightly brushed against each other’s, foreheads pressed together, Octavio’s breathing ragged.

“You sure you can keep up with me?” He murmured, and as he let out a soft chuckle, Natalie could feel how he was grinning. 

Natalie matched his laughter with her own gentle, airy giggle. ”Of course. I’m the one who kissed you first, no?”

**Author's Note:**

> i haven’t really written outside of roleplaying in a good ~three years so i’m still rusty with independent writing.
> 
> just getting back into the swing of things for now, apex is the first fandom i’ve had in years where i’ve liked the characters enough to write fics about them so i’ll definitely be posting more at some point!! i’m a multi-ship disaster so look out world i’m coming your way fast.


End file.
